Intervention of the Portuguese Communist Party by Carlos Aboim Inglez
22-24 05 1998 Athens
As I bring fraternal greetings to the representatives of all the parties here today, allow me first of all, to convey to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of
Greece, and through it to all Greek communists, warmest greetings from Prtuguese communists on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the foundation of the CPG. For eight decades, successive generations of Greek communists have carried on a constant and courageous struggle for the vital interests of the working class, of all the working people and the people of Greece, for democracy and socialism.
Having to cope with cruel periods of being outlawed, the Nazi occupation, and the British military intervention, Greek communists, linked with the working people, with the popular masses and with other democratic and patriotic forces, never laid down their arms in the struggle to liberate their homeland from the fascist dictatorship and imperialist domination. The party of the working people and of the Greek people, a revolutionary anti-capitalist strength irreplaceable in the present and future, the Communist Party of Greece integrates its national and internationalist tasks closely. Please accept, together with the fraternal greetings from the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Portugal, our best wishes of success in your action as well as the expression of our great interest in maintaining and strengthening the friendly and co-operative relations that have existed for a long time between our two parties, in the common cause of the working people and the peoples, of democracy, peace and the general ideals of communism.
Comrades,
All over the world, a large number of events are being held to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the publication of the "Manifesto of the Communist Party", the brilliant founding document of our movement. Today's conference is one such event. Although many details of the Manifesto have plainly been surpassed today by the subsequent development of both capitalism and the communist movement,
the substance of its analyses and lessons has been broadly confirmed historically and remains timely in a vital way.
Given the theme of the Conference, I would like here to emphasise that Marx and Engels, even then, proclaimed and laid the foundation for the necessity of the communist movement to be established as the party of the proletariat, within the framework of the class struggle in which history evolves. They emphasised that communists have no interests separate from and foreign to those of the proletariat as a whole; that within the various struggles, communists promote common, class interests regardless of national and local particularities; that within struggles at every particular stage of history, as well as in all struggles for individual interests, they represent the collective movement and do not neglect the final goals; and that only in this way can the Communist Party become in practice the most decisive segment, the vanguard in the struggle of the proletariat, having the advantage of understanding theoretically the conditions, the course and the general
results of the movement. These are some of the main precepts of the Manifesto which have preserved their full and confirmed relevance.
Over the past 150 years, capitalism has had a long history with some noteworthy developments. The same is true of the communist movement. However, the exploitive and oppressive nature of capitalism has not changed, but has indeed gone deeper and become worse; capitalism has proved to be incapable of solving the serious problems faced by humanity, precisely because it is itself the decisive
factor in causing them. And the communist movement has grown to enormous proportions, it has become world-wide, it has passed through a variety of particular historical circumstances and has known magnificent successes as well as great defeats.
About a decade ago, with this century drawing to a close, there occurred the collapse of the USSR and the other socialist countries of Europe, the adverse effects of which have certainly not yet been overcome. We must learn from our successes, but also from our failures. And this requires analysis at a deeper level, which we believe has not yet been done. But we cannot open a parenthesis in the
on-going class struggle, which has in fact intensified, and this is the reason why the analysis must not stand in the way of our action, the direct and constant response
required in the struggle for the vital interests of the working people and the peoples in face of the fierce offensive by big capital and imperialism.
Comrades,
At our 13th Congress in May 1990, and later, at our 14th Congress in December 1992, our Party carried out its first analysis of the causes of this failure. I am not going to expand on this, except as regards our subject, and to point out that within this complex set of causes, in which some affected others, we referred with particular emphasis to the loss of the living, inherent and permanent links of the
Party with the working class and with the populace, to the distancing of the Party, and its leadership in particular, from the masses of the working people, to the latter's marginalisation as regards the decisive role that should be theirs in determining their Party's orientation and in monitoring its implementation, with all the disastrous effects deriving there from. On our part, we are trying to draw conclusions from these lessons in order to keep improving the operation of our Party and to keep expanding its bonds with the working class and the masses, who
constitute the basic source and root of its power.
At our 15th Congress in December 1996, on the basis of a specific orientation to strengthen our Party in the transition to the 21st century, we are taking as a point of departure the clear proclamation of our communist identity. The goal of the PCP and the characteristics of its foundation and its struggles are to build in Portugal a
society free of capitalistic exploitation and oppression, and to deepen democracy, socialism and communism. Our Party has incorporated into its plan for a socialist
society the lessons of our April Revolution and all its achievements and gains, as well as the historic experience of the October Revolution, and the positive and negative experiences from the victories and failures in building socialism during the 20th century. All these also constitute crucial elements in the identity of the PCP,
which are confirmed a) in its particular action, its nature as Party and as vanguard of the working class and all working people, outside the interests, policy and
ideologies of the forces of capital; b) in its organisational structure and operation which are based on the principles deriving from the creative development of democratic centralism (whose basic features are profound internal democracy, a single general orientation and a single central leadership); c) in its theoretical
foundation, which constitutes a guide to action, in Marxism-Leninism (which, without changing theories and viewpoints into dogma, is being constantly enriched and renewed); and d) in the supplementarity and structure of its national and internationalist tasks. The close bond with the working class, the working people and the popular masses is the main component in the identity of our Party, the reason for its strength and its ability to influence and fight.
The class nature of the PCP lays firm foundations for the development of socio-political alliances. The PCP has committed itself to expanding the alliances between the working class and all the working people more generally in all sectors in which their interests are being hit by big monopoly capital and imperialism. It does not aim to take advantage of them but undertakes to defend their interests in the struggle against the common enemy: big capital. In all alliances, taking into account the various specific historical circumstances and the immediate goals, the Party does not relinquish its individuality or its special identity, and does not sacrifice the basic principles of its nature nor does it neglect its ultimate goal which is socialism.
As regards the implementation of the decisions taken at the 15th Congress, the Central Committee at its last meeting in February, laid down various lines of action
which it regarded at that moment as being fundamental to a new thrust in the action, intervention and political advancement of the Party, including, on the level of the Party organisation, measures to set in motion the renewal and encouragement of the Party organisations and structures, to enhance its organisation and intervention on the side of the working people, to strengthen the militancy and role of the active members, to reactivate the basic structures of the Party and its contact with the masses.
Comrades,
After the jubilant so-called "ultimate triumph of capitalism" at the end of the 20th century, its realities and contradictions have become highly visible, and on the
contrary make its historic limits obvious. The enormous possibilities of furthering man's material and intellectual well-being that are offered by the incredible achievements of science and technology conflict unacceptably with the generalised deterioration of living and working conditions for hundreds of millions of men, women and children who are condemned to the blackest misery. More than anything else, this major contradiction in the present-day world shows the
irrational, rapacious and inhuman nature of capitalism in high relief. The capitalist system has become not only a barrier to social progress, but also a threat to humanity.
The process of overthrowing capitalism in a revolutionary way on a world level was inaugurated by the Russian Revolution in 1917, as well as by the other victorious revolutions which constituted the first undertaking in building the new society. Such a process proved however to be more complex, difficult and long-term than had been calculated and it is difficult to predict the forms and rate of its future evolution. Historic experience, however, has shown that the real possibility of creating a world at long last free of class exploitation, social and national oppression, the scourge of war and of ecological destruction lies with the popular masses, and above all with the working people who constitute the overwhelming majority of humanity, through their organisation and the power of their liberation struggle.
The way forward is the way of the masses and their militant mobilisation. And above all on the level of each country. Each country experiences its own reality, deals with its own contradictions and problems, has its own abilities and progressive development. This is why there are there can be no "models" applicable world-wide or "programmes" valid world-wide. Nevertheless, with the
closer interdependence of the peoples, the dialectics of national and international factors have acquired greater significance. Conditions abroad are assuming ever greater weight on the domestic level, and the working people and the people are having to confront the transnational powers in their own countries. This reality does not discount the significance of the national territory as the enduring field of the class struggle, and the organisation and mobilisation of the working people and the peoples. But at the same time internationalist Cupertino and solidarity, common and converging action by communists, progressives, workers and the peoples have become necessary for the success of the struggle we are all fighting.
The generalised offensive by big capital and its attempts to impose the new totalitarian world order globally demand great efforts from communists and all progressive forces to make the struggle of the workers and the people converge in a broad anti-imperialist front.
The world-wide communist and revolutionary movement which is being hit by one of the most serious crises in its history is still going through difficulties. But the "death of communism" and the "irreversible decline" of communist parties, that was widely proclaimed, has not come to pass. On all continents there are communists who, either by this name or by another, continue to fight for the cause of socialism. Since its creation, the communist and workers' movement has passed through various stages. It has seen periods of robust progress as well as stagnation and backsliding; it has won great victories through its unity and has seen dramatic clashes, splits and defeats; it has been equipped with differing structures and forms of affiliation, according to the objective and subjective conditions. Today, together with scattering and fragmentation, and even with the persistence of some dissolving trends within the framework of broader democratic alliances, complex processes are developing in many parties that determine their very identity. It is
becoming even more difficult than it was before to discern its components and to realise stable forms of multilateral affiliation. The PCP will continue to act, to the extent of its abilities, with the necessary flexibility but also with unshakeable belief in the direction of reconstruction, renewal and strengthening of the international communist revolutionary movement, by strengthening the bonds of friendship, mutual understanding, Cupertino and solidarity between communists and all revolutionaries, with respect for the independence and autonomy of each Party, and seeking all possible and necessary convergences in action.
As we study the course of human history, as well as that of the communist workers' movement, we note a succession of low and high tides. In periods of low tides, we must know how to prepare, with confidence, persistence, objectivity and courage, for the new high tides of the revolutionary struggle of the masses which constitute the main constituent of history and changes in the world.